A Shout Out

Looks like it's going to be a quiet weekend in Storrs. My understanding is there's only one recruit coming in - but he's a big recruit.

Maybe Barkevious Mingo, a 6-5, 210-pound strong side linebacker from Louisiana needs the place to himself.

LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma, to name a few, are on Mingo's trail. His visit to UConn will be an official one so he can expect the royal treatment.

Trust you saw the first installment of Cody Brown's journal in the paper (or online)? Since this looks like it will be an unprecedented year for the football Huskies, the players wanted to include fans along the way.

Nice deal by Cody and Donald Brown, too.

The Donald is going to do a diary/journal for us starting next month but his will include a question and answer session. We're working on how to set it up so you can ask him stuff all the time. We'll see if it works out that way. That's the plan and it was his idea.

Also, you saw the note where 2.067 million households were tuned into the International Bowl on ESPN2, in which UConn came back to beat Buffalo, 38-20?

Only the Southern Mississippi-Cincinnati (2,167 households) game has higher rating in the 42 bowl games shown on The Deuce.

Interesting visit.
Barkevious Mingo seems to have an enormous amount of interest from over ten major programs and UConn wasn't even on prior lists.
Yet, this program is clearly on the rise and may be the best program in the country for optimizing talent as evidenced by our three players at the Senior Bowl, and DB on the All-American list,none of whom was highly recruited out of HS and all of whom were able to grow to these heights within this program.
Hope he appreciates the opportunity to develop both on and off the field, enjoy himself and stand out at a University already in the elite ranks in Men's BB, the elite program in Women's BB and on the rise in Football.
Hope the snow doesn't negatively impact him.
BTW what happened to global warming these last two months? I haven't seen grass for about 45 days.

Im not sure about the best program in the country as far as optimizing talent but UConn has certainly has to be among the best given what has happened. The way I see it, at least three guys could be gone on the first day of the draft. That's amazing to me. Getting the receiver from Florida is still a get I don't think that's got the recognition it deserves. This kid is going to play right away. Geta few more like him over the years and you're on your way.

Interesting handle. Anyway, I saw the Orange Bowl this year. It was a good game while the Bearcats stuffed an early drive down Va. Tech's throat and then were nowhere to be found with the Hokies opportunistic defense frustrating Tony Pike and the offense for most of the game.
I thought I put in that the game between Cinci and Southern Miss was the 2007 Papajohns.com bowl. So, my bad. Thanks for pointing it out.

As far as where Mingo is going I mean, I don't know. The fact he is coming for an official visit is news and big news for UConn to get a player of his caliber up for an official visit. If that's what a good source told you then we'll have to see how good that source is but the only thing I heard is that he's coming up this weekend for an official visit.

The fact that Mingo is eeven interested, says a lot about where this program is headed. We don't have the history of a lot of other programs, but the school has done a great job of building amazing facilities to draw guys in and I think the coaching staff is probably selling the idea that these big recruits can come in and be "the guy" for this UCONN team instead of just another guy for some of the bigger programs. I assume he'll be at the Providence game this weekend. Maybe we should start a chant or make signs (seemed to work for Kemba Walker).

BARK....EVIOUS....MINGO!!!
I want him just for his name. A name with a bark belongs with the dogs! I can hear the chants now. All kidding aside, this young man would be a great catch. Along with D Difton on the O side.
Having said this I should mention the staff obviously is making a concerted effort to recruit the good guys. Of interviews, film or print, I have seen all the recruits come across as confident not cocky, and intelligent rather than arrogant. Dez-Man..That's what's real good.

I was just watching Barkevious Mingo's interview with Rivals.com from the Army All-American Combine (Dec. 28th). He never mentioned UConn in that interview and admitted that, while he's been a fan of Michigan since he was a youngster, LSU was the front runner. How did the Huskies convince him to take a visit this weekend? Does he know someone who's on the Huskies roster or coaching staff? Or, perhaps were other bigger name programs trying to tinker with the position they project him at in college?

Not sure about the latter question but you know as well as I do that once you get a kid on campus anything can happen that's why coaches push for those visits so bady. If you're a UConn with a lot more to offer than you did, say 10 years ago, with a little more of a reputation that seems to be growing, getting a kid like Mingo up is big. Who knows what's going through this his mind.
Seems to me that the staff is selling the "you can be a star here" pitch. It takes a special kid to aceept a challenge like that. If one, two or three of the big-timers do, then it's only a matter of time before your program is either turned around on the rise.

Dez came to Connecticut in 1991 and began covering high schools, then UConn football, the NFL, UConn basketball, Big East football, Big East basketball, national college football, national college basketball, the NBA. He has been a beat writer ... read more